Jury gets case of 2010 Worcester shootout

Monday

Feb 11, 2013 at 1:00 PMFeb 11, 2013 at 5:06 PM

By Gary V. Murray TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

Four hours of jury deliberations failed to produce a verdict today in the case of one of four men charged in a 2010 shootout on Lawrence Street that the prosecutor described in his closing argument as “a brazen assassination attempt.”

Elvin Gonzalez, 31, is facing assault and firearm charges in connection with the Jan. 2, 2010, exchange of gunfire, which sent bullets into homes and a business in the Kansas-Lawrence streets area. While authorities estimate that 30 to 40 shots were fired, there were no injuries.

A Worcester Superior Court jury deliberated for about four hours this afternoon without reaching a verdict. Jury deliberations are scheduled to resume Tuesday morning.

Mr. Gonzalez is one of four men who allegedly got out of a Ford Taurus at Kansas and Lawrence streets shortly before 5 p.m. on the day of the shooting and opened fire on the two occupants of a Ford Excursion being driven down Lawrence Street.

Fernando Davis, a passenger in the Excursion, allegedly returned the gunfire and has been charged in the case. Also facing charges and awaiting trial are Mr. Gonzalez’s brother, Angelo Gonzalez, and cousin, Jerome Lee, two of the other men who allegedly emerged from the Taurus and began shooting.

A fourth occupant of the Taurus has not been identified or charged.

Sophia Chicklis, the driver of the Excursion, testified during Elvin Gonzalez’s two-week Worcester Superior Court trial that he was one of the gunmen who opened fire on her and Mr. Davis.

Candy Gilbert, a resident of 12 Lawrence St., also identified Mr. Gonzalez in a 911 call made immediately after the shooting and in her testimony during the trial. Both women said they knew Mr. Gonzalez before the shooting.

The jury of seven women and five men began its deliberations shortly after noon today after hearing closing arguments by Assistant District Attorney Terrence M. Reidy and defense lawyer Joan M. Fund and Judge Richard T. Tucker’s instructions on the law.

Ms. Fund told the jury in her final summation that the prosecution’s case relied solely on eyewitness identifications, “the kind of evidence that leads to wrongful convictions.”

She referred to the testimony of Geoffrey Loftus, an experimental psychologist who teaches at the University of Washington at Seattle who testified as an expert witness for the defense.

Mr. Loftus, who specializes in the field of human perception and memory, told the jury last week that factors such as lighting, distance and stress can diminish the reliability of eyewitness identifications, even in cases where the person being identified is known to the witness.

He said many people wrongly convicted on the basis of eyewitness identifications have later been exonerated through DNA testing.

Ms. Fund suggested it was unlikely Ms. Chicklis or Ms. Gilbert were able to see who was shooting at the Excursion.

Mr. Reidy referred to Mr. Loftus as “a hired gun” in his closing argument and noted that the psychologist never visited the scene of the shooting or spoke to any of the witnesses.

“You cannot comment on what somebody can see when you’re talking generally,” he said.

Mr. Reidy told the jury there was evidence corroborating the eyewitness identifications, including what he said was an effort by Mr. Gonzalez to “fabricate an alibi.”